Notes and Editorial Reviews

Strange, but it’s been a while since a really great recording of this coupling has appeared. Maybe the Debussy and Ravel Quartets are falling out of fashion. I don’t know where the Alban Berg Quartett got that annoying extra “t” in “Quartet,” but it’s easy to forgive that conceit when they turn in performances this brilliant. With generally swift tempos in both works, the Bergers manage to distinguish the smokey passion of their Debussy from the almost supernatural finesse of their Ravel.

You can hear the difference in to the two sound samples posted below: first, there’s the urgent opening movement of the Debussy, and next, the crackling scherzo of the Ravel (famous as the backgroundRead more music for the Ancestry.com television commercials, though not this performance as far as I can tell). In the scherzo, especially, the purity of intonation in evidence is truly astounding. You don’t have to have perfect pitch to notice just how “right” every note of the principal melody sounds. It’s marvelous.

Adding to this excellently remastered disc’s attractions, you also get equally impressive versions of Stravinsky’s main works for string quartet. This isn’t major stuff, but for that reason alone it’s nice to have since it’s not all that easy to find in a convenient place. Clearly this set makes a prime recommendation. You can do “different,” but you can’t do better.